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POLLING
MIDTERMS: Via Reuters, VERBATIM: “Liberal Democrats now make up a clear majority of their party and view universal healthcare, greater abortion access and higher taxes on the rich as essential political positions, underscoring how Democrats have moved leftward in recent years, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. The finding comes ahead of a Tuesday Democratic primary in which left-wing doctor Abdul El-Sayed is vying against moderate U.S. Representative Haley Stevens for the party’s nomination to run for a Michigan U.S. Senate seat. The seat is seen as critical for Democrats’ hopes of winning a majority in that chamber in the November midterm elections.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45q6cIZ
MORE: Via Ipsos, 26% said healthcare was the “one area of everyday expenses [they would] MOST like members of Congress to prioritize” – the highest ranking response. FULL POLL RESULTS: https://fluence-media.co/4fRulwH
BREASTFEEDING: Via The Harris Poll, polling released to mark World Breastfeeding Week. VERBATIM: “Nearly three out of five women (59%) are unaware that the length of maternity leave can directly impact breastfeeding success . . . Over half of women (52%) believe that breast pumps and other breastfeeding supplies should always be fully covered by insurance . . . More than half of women (51%), including 55% of those who have been pregnant, want healthcare providers to proactively discuss breastfeeding during prenatal appointments.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hMjk2a
MCONNELL: Via Newsweek, VERBATIM: “Longtime Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s public standing has fallen to its lowest level in two decades of polling, according to a new CNN/SSRS survey released Thursday. The poll found his favorability rating at just 11 percent—the lowest ever recorded for him in the poll’s history dating to 2006. The decline comes as the longtime Kentucky senator, 84, remains largely absent from public view, fueling questions about both his immediate political future and ability to continue serving in office after his recent hospitalization.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hIhtvm
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
MEDICAID SUPPORTS HEALTH CARE FOR ALL OF US: Medicaid keeps Minnesota’s hospitals strong and ensures communities across the state have access to care. Policymakers must protect Medicaid so every Minnesotan — regardless of income or health status — can get the care they need, when they need it. LEARN MORE: https://fluence-media.co/3FtrCuH (SPONSORED: Minnesota Hospital Association)
MINNESOTA HEALTH NEWS
LISTS: U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals Honor Roll includes Mayo Clinic along with its facilities in Arizona and Florida. SEE: https://fluence-media.co/4fyHdcc
NEXTGEN: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “A newly minted partnership between North Hennepin Community College (NHCC) and St. Cloud State University (SCSU) aims to pave a direct pathway for students entering the medical technology field. Leaders from both institutions gathered on July 27 at NHCC in Brooklyn Park to celebrate an agreement that officially relocates several of St. Cloud State’s graduate programs directly onto North Hennepin’s campus.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4w01Vqd
FUNDING CUTS: “The red van hands out food, water, clothes, first aid and free HIV tests. Locals recognize it across the Twin Cities: the van, nicknamed ‘Thrivey,’ visits St. Paul on Mondays, drives up and down south Minneapolis on Wednesdays and Thursdays, then heads to north Minneapolis on Fridays. Tuesdays are restock days. The van, and everything inside it, is funded by federal grant money that has been suddenly revoked. The Aliveness Project, the Minnesota nonprofit behind the van, is one of many HIV prevention groups across the country that face a financial cliff now that the government plans to reroute millions of dollars from groups like theirs to state health agencies.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4hNAsob
NEEDLE EXCHANGE: Via MinnPost, VERBATIM: “It’s never been easy to secure funding for Harm Reduction Sisters, a Duluth-based nonprofit that supports people struggling with addiction. But in June, it became even harder. That’s when founder Sue Purchase learned that the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) would no longer fund the organization’s syringe service program offering needle exchange, safe injection supplies and support services for drug users.” QUOTE: “The MDH has always been supportive of my work,” Purchase said, adding that she’d lose $150,000 a year. “I was honestly surprised to hear that they’d made this decision.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4q4nKUs
U OF M: Via Minnesota Daily, VERBATIM: “On July 22, the University of Minnesota announced changes to the employee health benefits plan. Employees expressed a staunch negative response. The University released the changes in a staff email, detailing raised deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and new co-insurance payments to employee medical benefits. In response, the University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a statement to the University, while another staff member created a petition opposing the changes and calling for the University to reconsider.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4heiuLE
KRATOM: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “A new Minnesota law raises the legal age to buy kratom from 18 to 21, marking the state’s first major step toward regulating a substance that’s become widely available in gas stations and smoke shops. Kratom is a plant native to Southeast Asia that’s sold in capsules, powders, gummies and drinks marketed as energy boosters or pain relievers. Supporters of the law say increasingly potent, chemically altered kratom products can be addictive and pose greater health risks.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45FwC9u
RESEARCH: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Could the humble Madagascar tenrec teach humans how to fight infections in the same way that the Gila monster helped scientists discover GLP-1 weight loss medications? University of Minnesota researchers hope so. And now they have a $10 million federal grant to work toward that goal over the next five years. The university late last week announced the award, which will accelerate studies of cellular samples from more than 140 animals that were donated by the Minnesota Zoo, Como Park Zoo, San Diego Zoo and other wildlife and animal control organizations.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4pYeHnS
HMONG CLOTHING: Via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “Robbinsdale-based North Memorial Health is taking a step to make an unexpected loss more comforting for Hmong families. The health system has begun offering customary travel clothes used in Hmong tradition for the deceased. North Memorial Health began providing traditional clothing to Hmong patients at its Robbinsdale hospital in May. Jessi Kingston, system director at North Memorial Health, said the clothing offerings are especially helpful for families who may experience unexpected loss.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4fSXpUH
ESSENTIA HEALTH SUPPORTS FREE CLINIC IN VIRGINIA, SERVING INCREASED NUMBER OF UNINSURED MINNESOTANS: Every Thursday night, physicians and care team members from Essentia Health-Virginia volunteer at the Project Care Free Clinic, providing treatment, screenings, and preventive care to patients who are uninsured or may be struggling to afford health care premiums. Essentia also provides lab and X-ray services at no cost to the clinic or its patients. Essentia is proud to support the clinic, ensuring everyone in the community can get the care they need. READ MORE: By volunteering at a free clinic, Essentia providers in Virginia ensure access to care for all | Essentia Health (SPONSORED: Essentia Health)
NATIONAL HEADLINES
CYCLOSPORA: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “Two people have died in the cyclospora outbreak in Michigan, state health officials announced Monday, the first deaths confirmed in the U.S. related to the microscopic parasite. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said both people had underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by the intestinal illness and dehydration.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4w9NlN0
TRACKING IT: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “Laina Stebbins, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to public health grants eliminated a contract between the state health department and 44 of the state’s 45 local departments that funded 123 full-time employees. Those cuts also affected the state’s disease surveillance labs, ‘reducing funding for equipment maintenance contracts, data modernization, and the ability to innovate laboratory processes during emerging disease response,’ Stebbins said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/458zbAN
ABORTION: Via Politico, VERBATIM: “As his confirmation to lead the Justice Department hung by a thread last week, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told faith leaders on a private call that he was preparing to take action to roll back abortion access nationwide. On a recording of the call posted online Thursday by the religious group Intercessors for America and hosted by the White House Faith Office, Blanche lamented that the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict abortion are ‘taking longer than we want’ but said the Justice Department was ‘working hand in hand’ with federal health agencies and the White House ‘so that the Dobbs decision becomes permanent in every single state.’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xfeM91
MED DEVICES: Via Stat, VERBATIM: “Medicare is removing flexibilities that have allowed medical devices designated as ‘breakthroughs’ by the Food and Drug Administration to leapfrog qualifications for extra payments. Until now, alternative pathways have allowed authorized breakthrough devices to qualify for supplemental payments without proving their novelty or substantial clinical improvement over alternatives. In its rule for inpatient hospital payments, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a proposal to repeal those pathways for both inpatient and outpatient settings, starting in fiscal year 2028.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4heZQDk
AI: Via KFF Health News, VERBATIM: “The rise of AI in the healthcare industry has prompted worries about who’s overseeing these tools and whether people are being improperly denied treatments or cut off from care. Unions have raised concerns about workplace surveillance and the prioritizing of savings over safety. Polling shows widespread fear over AI-driven job losses and growing income inequality, while health policy researchers have also raised red flags about algorithmic biases, transparency, data privacy, and safety risks. Mark Duggan, a Stanford University economics professor who has studied the Medicaid system for 30 years, said one long-standing fear is that insurers could use such software to cherry-pick patients for coverage.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fEkR99
TODAY: Via CNN, VERBATIM: “The White House will meet with representatives from several top AI companies on Tuesday to discuss a new framework for the government to review frontier AI models before they launch, multiple sources familiar with the invitation told CNN.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4but3Xa
MEDICAID CUTS: Via Stat, VERBATIM: “Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was talking about healthy eating on a farm in Michigan, as part of a national tour he’s taking to promote his Make America Healthy Again agenda, when two hecklers demanded to know why the Trump administration was cutting Medicaid. We aren’t cutting Medicaid, he responded. That’s just a ‘myth people believe,’ he said.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4q1kLMy
RESEARCH & INNOVATION
THERAPY ANIMALS: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “A visit from a therapy animal may do more than lift spirits. A new study in Mayo Clinic Proceedings highlights how animal-assisted treatment can support inpatient stroke rehabilitation. Patients who interacted with therapy animals showed greater engagement in their treatment, increased physical activity and longer mobility compared with those who did not.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4bq9q2r
CHEWING GUM: Via University of Pennsylvania, VERBATIM: “A specially engineered chewing gum reduced HPV by up to 93% and nearly eliminated two bacteria linked to head and neck cancer. The treatment preserved beneficial mouth bacteria, raising hopes for a safer and more affordable therapy.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4xhSEuC
BRAIN + WEIGHT: Via The Conversation, VERBATIM: “Weight loss is not simply a test of willpower. The human brain evolved to protect body fat during times of scarcity, and it can treat a previously higher weight as the new normal, triggering stronger hunger, cravings, and lower energy use after weight loss. This biological ‘memory’ helps explain why many people regain weight after dieting and why medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro can help by reducing appetite signals, although their effects may fade when treatment ends.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4wzsW4V
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
CANCER CELLS: Via Mayo Clinic, VERBATIM: “Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a protein that cancer cells use to shut down the body’s immune response, a discovery that could help scientists develop new treatments that make cancer immunotherapies more effective. Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the study identifies a previously unknown role for a protein called TRAILshort, which acts like an immune ‘off switch.’” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45JTKDG
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